Pentamom brings up a great point about the difficulty of sewing; all too often, it's virtually impossible for inexperienced, or even fairly experienced sewers to turn out a decent product for a decent price. Why is this? Well, I'm going to go back to my "mantra"; we've confused cheapness for thrift, and we're (pun intended) paying the price.
To illustrate by an example; my wife started sewing as most do with patterns and fabrics from "big box" fabric stores. All too often, the instructions were byzantine, the patterns weren't fit to a typical real person, the fabric had a skewed grain and leaked dye (ruining whatever pattern there was), and as a result we became convinced (tongue in cheek) that the big box sewing stores were actively trying to kill the hobby by selling junk. We spent quite a bit of time deciphering poor instructions, correcting them, and dealing with poor choices in fabric.
Then we started listening to older seamstresses on the subject, and heard the phrase "everybody eventually repents of using" big box store fabric. We bought a quality sewing machine and serger, started subscribing to Creative Needle and Australian Smocking, and....believe it or not, didn't spend that much money doing it. It's about the same amount of money most guys want to spend on their lawn tractor, or a little less, even.
The result? Yesterday, my two oldest daughters, as part of their home education (home ec is a subject, no? ), decided to make a couple of empire dresses for themselves, and the eldest (age 9) got hers done except for the final sleeve and a couple of finishing touches with little help from either her mother or myself.
The difference? We bought a good pattern, and we're using good fabrics that don't "fight" the seamstress. Here's a link.
Oh, and with good patterns, we're getting the hang of pants, too. Older books on sewing have a LOT of good stuff on the subject.
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6 comments:
I sewed a lot as a girl - great thing for a girl to learn!
I don't dispute what you're saying at all -- that it works for your evidently talented wife, and in your situation. It's just that it's not going to save me any money, and it would cost me a bunch of time, to make and throw away several pairs of unwearable pants while I "get the hang of it," when I can buy pants for my sons that last as long as they fit at Walmart for $9 (for the little one) to $15 (for the teenager.)
Simple dresses are MUCH easier, and what I mostly made back when I sewed regularly. Unfortunately, they're just not quite the right thing for boys, and not the sort of thing my girls want to wear for ordinary daily activities.
I never found the problem to be "fabrics that fight the seamstress" and only rarely was understanding the pattern that was the problem. I think it was the seamstress that was the problem. ;-)
Might be; and I'll admit that one thing that IS worth buying at Wal-Mart is jeans. Other pants, not so much, but Wranglers from Wal-Mart aren't too bad. (even they don't seem to last quite as well as they did a decade ago, for some reason)
....and then there's the 90% of other clothes they sell.....and shoes that hurt feet, and bikes that no real rider would touch, and....
I found those patterns to be confusing and three sizes too large even when I followed the measurements. So, I sewed without patterns! I can only make dresses that way, but HEY!
BB - here's a link after your own heart:
http://intraining365.blogspot.com/2008/06/things-you-dont-scrimp-on.html
Well said, NW!
Sarah, it actually turns out that the great couturers of the world work mostly without patterns. You can make a form that fits you exactly, BTW, with papier-mache or even duct tape--make sure you have a sheet around your body so it doesn't stick to you, and you've got a fun recipe for a productive and enjoyable evening with your husband.
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